I Love This Idea

No 'him' or 'hers' allowed: Is a gender-free preschool going too far?
Globe and Mail

I love the idea of laying a foundation for challenging the norms that we encounter. I don't think anyone would say that it is realistic to pretend that there aren't genders, but taking a different approach to how gender differences are treated and thought about should be applauded. A different approach to perceiving any of our social norms should be applauded ... does it not only promote mindful decision making and blasting away ignorance and prejudice?

Very interesting. We decided against one preschool for our daughter when the director of that school said to us "Well, girls will be girls ... " and then went on to describe what she thought "girly" behaviour to be. Seemed like my kid wouldn't get a chance to just be herself, her role was already defined. Didn't make me very happy.

PS - the commenters on the Globe & Mail website, not surprisingly, do not agree with me. I wonder if people re-read their comments before they hit publish? Each comment I read solidified the way I think, as outlined above. I don't understand what is so threatening about challenging the gender norms. Why do people react so strongly? I've never understood this.